


Counting Stars

by fiftysecond



Series: April Love [2]
Category: Shadowhunters (TV), The Mortal Instruments Series - Cassandra Clare
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Saphael, a short sequel, just two vampires fooling around
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-10
Updated: 2017-04-10
Packaged: 2018-10-17 05:03:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,258
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10586994
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fiftysecond/pseuds/fiftysecond
Summary: "Lately I've been losing sleep, dreaming about the things that we could be."-Just a short little sequel to April Fools'. It's okay if you will not read it to understand this, because this is kind of a standalone.-"Look upon the sky and seeSeven stars for you and meOne for each day that passesAs you made your outlandish wishesOn the final day, the gods aboveWill let you recognize your true love."





	

**Author's Note:**

> Soo this work is for thatbloodyines (and no, I don't know how to mention someone here in ao3 *facepalms*) and this work was inspired by a short story in our school paper. Happy reading! :)

Naturally, the Hotel Dumort didn't have a library, so when Simon saw the perfect opportunity to slip out of Raphael's grasp, he took it immediately.

There's only a teeny problem: he didn't know he was being followed by the very person he was trying to escape from.

Raphael was having a heated conversation with another vampire who looked as respectable and authorized as him when Simon sneaked out. He went back to his room casually to avoid being suspected, then jumped out the window. It wasn’t that high, so it’s not really a danger for him to just jump out, and the fact that he was a vampire now added to his reasons.

Seconds later, a pair of black eyes observed Simon, who was striding down the street, then leaped out of the window himself.

Raphael chuckled to himself quietly as he followed Simon to wherever the hell he was going, dodging people nimbly on the way. The fledgling was even more stupid than he looks, Raphael thought, if he actually assumed the clan leader wouldn't notice him sneaking off. The sun had just set, the sky beginning to show the stars when the two of them exited the Hotel Dumort, one completely unaware of the other's presence. After a few minutes of wandering, Simon walked inside a library.

The clan leader did a double-take. A fucking library? He frowned at the building in front of him, clearly not comprehending that a library was open at an hour like this and Simon just went inside it. Cautiously, he climbed up the stairs and sauntered in. Not surprisingly, only a few number of people were sitting in tables and chairs, some leaning over bookshelves, reading or clutching a book in his hands. Fortunately for the two vampires, Raphael didn't see a librarian or someone in charge scrutinizing them or whatever they were supposed to do. He cast his eyes around just in time to see Simon disappearing behind the rows of shelves.

Raphael rolled his eyes, clearly thinking this was a waste of time and that he should have just leave the fledgling be. He knew Simon was fond of books and video games and music, but he didn’t actually think that the said vampire would go this far to borrow a book from the library.

Honestly, Simon could have just told Raphael about it.

Raphael followed Simon down a dozen shelves, picking a random book along the way so that he wouldn’t seem dodgy to the people on the library. After a few moments, he couldn’t see Simon anywhere, so he peered among the shelves to look for a certain vampire.

There he was, on one of the farthest shelf in the corner, clutching a book in his hands and flipping through the pages. Raphael sighed and quietly went to his direction, and when he was near enough, he casually on a shelf and opened the book he carried, and stared down on it. Simon was too absorbed with his book to notice the other vampire, so only when he looked up to choose another book did he see Raphael, staring at him with those eyes as black as night.

Simon gulped, a gesture that didn’t go unnoticed by Raphael.

“Um, hi,” he said nervously, then closed the book and put it back to the shelf. The older vampire walked quickly to him, closing the book as he went, and in the process a piece of paper fluttered out and landed behind them. Either Raphael didn’t notice or he just didn’t give a damn, because he ignored it.

The vampire clan leader raised a perfectly arched eyebrow at him. “Just what the hell are you doing?” he asked, which made Simon bit his lower lip. He hadn’t thought of what he might say if his plan would go wrong. But then, every plan of his is not a good one.

“I—uh—I was searching for a book. To read, you know. I’ve finished rereading my stack of books I brought to the hotel, and I was bored, and I thought that it would be okay for you if I go here and borrow something.”

It took a great amount of willpower for Raphael not to look at Simon’s mouth. Unfortunately, this averted his concentration for a moment.

“Hmm?” he murmured after a few seconds of trying to regain control of the situation. “You could have just asked me, idiot.”

Simon gaped at him. “Ask you? Why would I do that?”

Raphael glared at the vampire in front of him. “I have some connections, you little fuck. I could have called them and demand a book.”

Simon frowned. “Did you just call me a little fuck?”

“Yes, I did. Now let’s go,” Raphael commanded, then turned away from Simon and put his book on the shelf. Blinking, Simon followed him obediently, too tired to argue. Before the other vampire could notice, snatched the piece of paper that Raphael unknowingly dropped and slipped it in his jeans pocket.

~~~~

That night, they went through their usual routine without the wandering and racing part; training, watching movies and/or tv shows and flipping through Simon's novels and comic books alike in Raphael's room. It had been a week since the April Fools' incident, and the two had managed not to speak about it without keeping an air of awkwardness around them.

At around 1 in the morning, Simon excused himself to go outside for some fresh air. Raphael looked at him quite disbelievingly, but he agreed to his request without any witty remark, which Simon thought was a miracle. Nevertheless, he left without complaint and walked down the halls until he was outside of the hotel.

Simon closed his eyes and took a deep breath. It was very quiet and calm outside, which he thought was rather perfect. After a few moments of standing by the doors to the Hotel Dumort and doing nothing, he remembered the slip of paper he had in his pocket and took it out.

The paper looked a bit old and dusty, as if it was sitting in the library for quite some time, and it was crumpled. It also looked like someone ripped it out of a page and stuffed it in the book. The writing on it was very legible though. Under the moon's glow, Simon read:

"The man on the moon grinned at him and recited:

Look upon the sky and see  
Seven stars for you and me  
One for each day that passes  
As you made your outlandish wishes  
On the final day, the gods above  
Will let you recognize your true love."

Simon snorted. 'Will let you recognize your true love?' He had expected that he would read some incomprehensible text. Turns out, it was absurd.

A voice from behind interrupted his thoughts. "What have you got in there?"

He felt his eyes widened nervously. He slowly lowered his hands and slipped the paper in his pocket as he turned to face the owner of the voice, hoping against hope that somehow his gesture had gone unnoticed by the ever observant eyes of Raphael Santiago.

"It was nothing."

"Really," Raphael replied dryly, clearly unimpressed.

"Yeah, nothing. What are you doing here anyway? Don't tell me you followed me," he said as an attempt to steer the conversation from dangerous waters as he opened the door to the hotel.

Raphael rolled his eyes, but by some miracle, he let Simon get away with his lies.

Before they entered the hotel, Simon managed to look up to the sky and count seven stars, which earned him a scowl from Raphael.

As they passed hallways and rooms, bickering comfortably with each other, the vampires who have known Raphael for so long didn't fail their nightly routine of giving the two scrutinizing looks. The head of the New York vampire clan wasn't known for his easygoing attitude towards fledglings and anybody else alike, but here he was, sauntering casually around like he has nothing to do at all. The wall he built around himself to keep others away was almost unbreachable. On top of that, for someone to get Raphael Santiago unpertubed and laid-back around them, they have to open the locks he placed around his heart. And yet, the fledgling, who was nothing special except that he was a friend of the Nephilim—Nephilim of the New York Institute, that is—and is a geek, seems like he's broken through the wall and is now finding the keys to the locks. And Raphael seems to be letting him do it. 

For the long-term residents of the hotel, it was nearly impossible.

Unluckily for the clan, their incredulous looks didn't go unnoticed by their leader. Every time someone's gaze lands on the duo's way, Raphael shoots them a warning glance saying, 'You better let me not see it again, or else I'll kill you.' Even though that message is only directed at one vampire, everyone averts their eyes and goes on whatever they were doing as if nothing had happened.

Raphael always thought that Simon was quite oblivious to the clan's reactions but when the two had entered his room, he flopped on the couch and turned to Raphael.

"What's up with the clan? They're always giving us weird looks every time we pass them."

Raphael glared at him. "Shut up, Lewis." 

~~~~

That night, they stayed up quite late until up to late in the morning, watching more movies than usual, which left them very tired. This had happened before, but Raphael was grumpy at that time, and almost bit Simon's head off because of his pestering as he tried to sleep.

"Hey, Raphael?" Simon asked, trying and failing to suppress his yawn.

"What?" came Raphael's annoyed reply, which was muffled due his face stuffed on the pillow.

"Can I sleep here?"

Raphael was too tired to argue, so he just agreed without clearly digesting the question. "Yeah, go on. Sleep on the couch."

"Thanks," Simon said, and flopped himself down on the couch. Before unconsciousness took him away, however, he caught sight of Raphael's sleeping form and thought hazily: he looks like a star.

~~~~

"Lewis," a quiet but commanding voice stirred Simon from his sleep. "Wake up. Someone's here to see you."

“Go away,” he complained, waving his free hand in the air, attempting to swat whoever it was away.

“It’s your best friend. The redhead girl.”

“Clary?” he opened an eye to find Raphael looking at him uninterestedly with arms crossed, but there was no sign of Clary anywhere. “You’re kidding me. Let me sleep,” he said, then closed his eye again.

Raphael sighed. “She’s outside the door.”

Simon frowned. “Well, why didn’t you let her in?”

“In case you forgot, this is my room, fledgling.”

“I wasn’t aware that you could put Clary in her place. Not that she deserves it. Waiting outside, I mean. If she is outside.”

“My house, my rules, Lewis. Now, get your ass up and meet your girlfriend outside. I will not be having you two have a cozy reunion in my room.”

“Raphael! Simon!” a voice interrupted their exchange. “What’s taking you so long? Oh my god, please don’t tell me you’re doing something in there.”

Simon opened his eyes and gazed up at the ceiling. “Hey, that’s Clary.”

Raphael gave him a dark look. “It’s Clary visiting day today.”

“Oh.”

It took a few seconds for Simon to actually comprehend everything, and when he did, Clary was already pounding on the door. “Simoooon? What’s that vampire done to you?”

“Clary! I’m here!” he yelled back, then rolled over the couch to the floor. Before he got out the door to meet his best friend, he mouthed Raphael a thank you.

Raphael was about to ask, Whatever for?, but Simon was already closing the door behind him.  
~ 

That was the first day. The next, Simon got a stack of manga, games and movies they used to spent most of their time together, back when everything was normal. At that, he wondered if things would even get back to normal. He spent the rest of his time reading, before he would have their nightly strolls with Raphael. When Raphael got to his room, he just ran his gaze over the pile, and then turned away without another word, apparently not waiting for Simon.

“Hey, wait up!” Simon had shouted after him, tossing the book he was holding back into the pile, then ran after him. Fortunately, Raphael hadn’t gotten that far yet, so he was able to catch up to him and match his pace.

On the third day, Simon tried to ask Raphael for two books, just to see if he was true to his word. Before the day—or rather, the night—ended, Raphael dumped the books in his lap, leaving a wild-eyed Simon staring after him as he walked away.

The following day, Simon got a surprise visit from Clary. But this time, she was accompanied by a team. Jace, Isabelle, Magnus, and of course, Alec, who looked like he would very much prefer to be anywhere than this place.

The fifth day was rather. . .unanticipated. As they were walking home from their nighttime wanderings, Simon had announced that he was hungry. Raphael barely spared him a glance as he changed his route. Simon followed him silently, and was surprised when he found himself outside of Taki’s.

Raphael paid for the dinner for the two of them. It was nothing special, really. Just blood. Nothing else.

At that point, Simon wondered that it was really a coincidence that he got all these little things when he read that rhyme. Still, he dismissed the thought. After all, stuff like those happened only in movies. But he started to count a star for that day. He gathered his memories of the night sky these past days, and counted a star for each of the days, too.

The next day, Clary turned up unexpectedly in the Hotel Dumort, demanding for Simon.

“Clary, what is it?” asked Simon as he sat down on his bed. They were in his room right now, seeing that they had no other options on where to go.

“Your sister texted me. She said that you haven’t been replying to her texts, and that she’s worried about you. Also, your mom is freaking out,” she paused, and added, “Simon, you haven’t told your family, have you?”

Simon stared at the floor for a few moments. “No, I haven’t,” he said finally. “I don’t know how. I’m not worried on how Becky might react, but you know how mom is. Can I see the message?”

Clary held out her phone, and he took it silently. The text was quite brief, yet it plainly showed how his sister was really concerned about him.

“Hey Clary, this is Rebecca, Simon’s sister. If it’s not a problem for you, can you please pass this message to Simon? He’s not replying to my texts, and I’m hoping that you know where he is.

Hi to you too, lil bro. Why are you not replying to my texts? Mom’s really freaking out. She keeps babbling about how you’ve become a monster, and that Simon is gone, but I don’t believe her. Can we meet somewhere to talk about all this? Just text me the place and date, and I’ll be there. I love you, Simon. Don’t you ever forget that.”

He took a deep breath after reading it, and nodded at Clary, who was staring at him. “Don’t worry. I’ll think about it.”

~~~~

Training the next day was like hell.

For some reason, Raphael was kind of distracted as he tried to teach Simon hand-to-hand combat. Everytime Simon doesn’t get something, or can’t follow Raphael’s tracks, he would throw Simon a couple of relentless blow and attacks until the fledgling was disarmed.

This only made Simon concentrate harder.

Raphael was throwing one of his hissy fits when Simon finally saw the chance and slammed Raphael hard to the floor, Simon on top of him. At this point, the two were panting really hard. Raphael closed his eyes in what seemed like frustration.

Ignoring this, Simon leaned his face down to the older vampire until their noses were almost touching. “What the hell is wrong with you?” he demanded.

Raphael’s eyes snapped open. “Don’t touch me,” he said, slapping the other’s hands away.

Simon squinted his eyes suspiciously at him. “Why?”

“Just don’t.”

“What if I will, anyway?” he challenged, and as if to prove his point, touched Raphael’s cheek.

In a heartbeat, their positions were reversed. Raphael had flipped him, which resulted on Simon struggling beneath Raphael’s body on top of him.

Raphael narrowed his eyes. “Don’t you ever dare try that again,” he said softly.

Simon just smirked at him, and captured Raphael’s lips as his own.

For a moment, Raphael was still as stone, which made Simon scold himself. You stupid idiot. He probably doesn’t want any of this, you little fuck. He was about to pull himself away when Raphael started kissing him back.

~

Raphael wasn’t a fan of cheesy, romantic things, but when Simon kissed him, it was like walking to heaven and taking in its ethereal beauty. It was like the world stopped, and the only thing that mattered was the two of them. It was like watching a fireworks display, shooting to the sky and exploding in a thousand colors. They fitted into each other perfectly, and Raphael thought, I’ve found home.

Simon ran his hands all over Raphael’s shirt—or rather, leather jacket. They broke apart, gasping for air.

“Why are you wearing a leather jacket?” Simon asked as if nothing had happened.

Raphael rolled his eyes. “Oh, I’m so sorry. Let me just compliment you on how nice your shirt is,” he shot back sarcastically, gesturing to Simon’s Star Wars shirt.

“Shut up. Can you take your jacket off?”

“Why?” he grinned at Simon. “Planning to do things to me now, aren’t you, fledgling?”

“What?” he exclaimed, obviously flustered at the thought. “I—I would never—just answer the question, dammit! And stop smirking!”

But the clan leader was not listening to him anymore. He was taking off his jacket.

As soon as Raphael’s jacket was gone, Simon gaped at him.

Raphael’s shirt was black as night, and in its center was a lone star.

“The final star,” he breathed. That night, when they had wandered around, Simon had looked up to the sky but there was not a single star in sight.

“What?” Raphael asked, confused by the statement.

“Uh, nothing. It’s nothing.”

“You better pray it’s nothing, Lewis, or you’ll be dead to me if I find out.”

“Ooooh, making threats now, aren’t we?” he teased, and then kissed him again. This time, it was a slow, yet passionate kiss, as if they had all the time in the world.

“Can I say it now?” Simon inquired, once they’ve broke off.

“What?”

“The ‘I lo—‘”

“Shh,” Raphael put a finger to Simon’s lips. “Tell me that when you’re really sure about it.”

Simon bit his lip, but he agreed. “Okay.”

Raphael sighed in relief. He didn’t want his hopes to get high, if Simon would say it. He had finally found home, and he was afraid that it would leave him after such a short time. It was better like this. No one would get hurt that much.

They spent the rest of the night cuddling in Raphael’s bed.

**Author's Note:**

> I know, I know it sucks lmao. I still haven't watched Shadowhunters, so that part where Rebecca says their mom is freaking out and all that is actually from the books (I forgot what book is it though. Is it City Of Fallen Angels or Lost Souls or what? sorry) lemme know how you feel about it in the comments, pretty please? and maybe an advice on how to improve my writing? *cringe puppy eyes*


End file.
